The colouring in the book was extremely careful, delicate and restrained. I'm having a bit of a dilemma with my interpretation. The pieces are to be displayed as a group and most of my collegues have gone with the old-fashioned pretty look. My feeling about blackberries is that they are vigorous plants with a strong tendency to break bounds. How to respect the character of the plant and yet harmonise with the group? I've started by using a green crinkle cotton for the leaves. I've vliesofixed two layers of fabric and blanket stitched around each leaf. That allows me to layer the leaves and they can move relative to each other and pop out of the page to some extent. My next decision is the stalks. I'm thinking of twisting up some of my handspun--if I can find the right greens. I can couch it down and hopefully add some thorns either in the texture of the yarn itself or with my couching stitches. I have various thoughts for the blackberries: maybe a combination of french knots and seed beads? Then there's the border. Several of the pictures have this clear outline. I'd like to see if I can send some tendrils over the fence! I think I'd better wait until the rest is done though before I try that. Already the design is feeling a bit crowded--hemmed in--so I may need to enlarge the design area to contain it. I've got a little bit of room to play with.
There's another batch waiting to be spun up; a little stack of washed fleece on the table and about the same quantity on the drying rack. I'm deliberately working in small quantities and making decisions about the design as I go along. This is a piece for this year's Scarf Festival. The theme this year is "The Rhythm of Life". I figure life is unpredictable and you have to go with the flow, so that's how I'm working with the scarf.
It's amazing what you see from a slightly different point of view. 
It didn't really turn out the way I envisaged. I haven't shown the whole flower because I'm still hoping to get it right and use it for gifts. The main trouble spots are the ways the various petals interact--the proportions and the angles aren't working the way I want. I'm going to try again. Meanwhile, as often happens, the process of starting something has kicked my imagination into action and I'm thinking of other possibilites and starting some different gift projects. Just as well and in a month or so it will be time for that last minute burst of activity.
Now there are a few spots of coffee dyeing to add to the mix. The shape of the piece might be ruined by washing, as I'm relying on the unbalanced twist in the wool to draw in the form, so I'm just going to carefully dab away at the stains and accept whatever's left as part of the overall life of the project.
I haven't yet unearthed the fabrics that are already in the quilt--I think they're in another box. Oh, so many boxes! So if you would please imagine the key orange and deep rose pink colours in to the mix. I was pleasantly surprised, though, at how many possibilities I came up with in a relatively short time. I've found that with scrappy designs, I can get away with a wider range of fabrics than I would expect. It's as if the eye averages out the whole array and finds the right balance. The other bonus is that I got moving on clearing the small mountain of quilting fabrics from my cutting table--it grew by a third. The table that is:)
The sample is not blocked--I'm still seriously thinking about a mobius neck roll and by definition a mobius cannot be blocked on a flat surface.
So from left to right we have:
The stitch definition is not as good as I would like on the moss stitch samples, so I think I'll try smaller needles if I decide to go with that option. At this stage, though I'm still inclined to go with the stocking stitch / reverse stocking stitch idea--I'm dreaming about how "snakey" a smooth mobius neck roll would look with it's dynamic drape. And besides, stocking stitch will be so much smoother to knit. I'm enjoying this process so much that I'm inclined to spin up some more yarn to do a moss stitch version as well. But there are still plenty of folio samples requiring my spinning attention. So I will have to alternate those with the thrill of designing or they'll never get done.
It's definitely olive green!
One of the most helpful things I heard in the design process on Saturday was, "What happens if you take that away?". I have a habit in design--which often serves me well--of adding layers: of colour, texture, whatever . . . until I'm satisfied with the result. The opposite approach--paring back to a few essential features--was a new insight. And I like it. Now I guess the challenge will be to know when to add and when to subtract, but I guess life's like that.
I worked on mixing three colours-- For someone who has tended to avoid using black in colour mixing, it was an enlightening experience. I bought a jar of black (Currawong) landscape dye before I went home to reinforce the lesson.
As often happens, by the time I was packing up to go home, my stuff appeared to have multiplied exponentially. T was kind enough to give me a ride home. As a bonus, we got to have a quick coffee and chat. I'm afraid I talked her ear off--it's been too long since we caught up. So, all in all a very worthwhile day. Today I'm exhausted and there's even more stuff on my table to be dealt with. Was it only last week I managed to get it all cleared!
